I Want The World To Know The Truth; Fela Ex-Wife Reveals Shocking Details About Him

One of the wives of the late Afrobeat legend,
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Laide Anikulapo-Kuti,
Nee Babayale, has revealed some shocking
details about the late legend. Though the
interview was months back, I found it now
and it's so revealing. If you haven't read it
before, read it now. It was actually a video
interview with Trumpet Media Group, but
you can read the transcribed version after
the cut.
How did you meet Fela?
I met Fela at a Sunday Jump in 1974. The
shrine was opposite my house and some of
my friends were selling things in front of the
place, and we were just there doing our own
thing, while Baba was inside doing his own
thing as usual. It was the boys that made us
know him well. They came to buy cigarettes
from my friends, and wanted to take candy
sweets for free, and I was a kind of person
that would never allow anybody take me or
the people around me for a ride. I protested,
and the next thing I knew, was that a hot
slap landed on the cheek of my friend selling
the goods, and that's how we started
fighting, that Fela had to come out. We
narrated what happened to him, so Fela took
the boy that slapped my friend inside and
punished him. After that, Fela sent one of his
drivers to me that if I'm chanced, I should
come and see him.
Initially, I didn't want to go in, because my
people must not see me in that kind of
environment. I was 16 years old as at then
but I had a big stature. When I got in, Fela
said I should follow any of the cars to his
house, but I didn't go. That was how I knew
Fela liked me, and I liked him too, so every
Sunday jump, I was always going there, well-
dressed. Whenever he was going in, he
always looked in our direction. However, to
cut the long story short, we eventually began
dating.
What was your parent's reaction when
they knew you were in Kalakuta?
It was a tug-of war. My father never wanted
it, because he thought people who were
around Fela were hooligans, but it was a lie.
Anybody who was a hooligan then was either
a passer-by, or just a shrine-goer, and not
part of Fela's inner caucus, because Fela
never wanted trouble from any of his people.
Fela fought with his music, but when people
heard the lyrics of his songs, they thought he
was a hooligan, which he was not. I was
actually on break from school for two weeks
when I decided to go and spend some time
with Fela, but when I got there, I really
enjoyed myself and didn't want to go back to
school again though I was in Form Four
then. My parents went looking for me in
school, but the Reverend mothers and sisters
there then said they didn't know my
whereabouts even though all my properties
were still in the hostel. They began searching
everywhere, but they never thought I could
be in Fela's place. It was actually Fela's
friend, who happened to be my in-law, Uncle
Tayo Mott, that informed my parents that I
was with Fela. He was a very close friend to
Fela and was also his DJ.
What were the actions your father took?
He was always coming to harass us wherever
we went. He would send boys from Shitta,
Surulere, to bundle me up wherever I was,
and they would carry me. My father was a
prominent, well-known and outgoing person,
so he knew people like King Sunny Ade,
Ebenezer Obey, and IK Dairo very well, so he
begged the three of them to go and plead
with Fela to release his daughter. On that
fateful day when they came, I was in Fela's
room, and we had just finished doing our
'thing.' When Fela was informed that the
three men were there to see him, he went
out, and later sent for me that I should dress
up and come out. When I went out, he sat
me down, and asked me if I knew the three
men, and I replied in the affirmative. He
asked me if I knew why they were there,
and I replied that I didn't, so he told me they
were there because of me. I said why, and
asked them if they knew me, but Fela calmed
me down, that they were sent by my father
to beg me to come back home. I then told
them that there was nothing happening there
that they didn't know about b